ROCHESTER — After several adjustments to the proposed budget by the City Council Tuesday, the budget proposal for next year is about $160,000 under the tax cap, according to Finance Director Blaine Cox.

Next week, the council will look at making additional adjustments, and possibly vote to adopt the budget and Capital Improvements Program (CIP), said Mayor T.J. Jean. Also next week, the City Council will likely discuss the possibility of including staff increases to Police and Fire departments, which have requested funds for additional employees due to increasing numbers for calls for service over the past several years.

After Tuesday’s meeting, Jean said he was a little surprised that only two residents spoke at the budget public hearing, which took place at the beginning of the meeting. He said the small number of speakers may indicate that residents, as a whole, understand the budget limitations in the city. He noted that 80 percent of the budget is absorbed by personnel costs.

According to Cox, about $249,640 of the budget has been set aside as contingency, for possible personnel costs relating to collective bargaining agreements, which will be negotiated next year. These costs, he said, may include salary adjustments, health care costs, or leave time. He said that six contracts are up for negotiation next year, including contracts for police officers, dispatchers, managers, middle managers, municipal employees, and library personnel.

One of the several changes made during Tuesday’s meeting is eliminating the projects to install water and sewer mains on Chamberlain Street, which would have cost about $2 million. The projects had been proposed after several residents in that neighborhood have complained about poor water quality and septic systems; however, a recent survey of residents on Chamberlain Street has shown that only a few residents would be willing to connect to municipal water and sewer system, said Jean. He said installing the water and sewer lines would therefore not make a good return on the investment.

Some of the projects that have been suggested by the School Department as part of the CIP were also eliminated or scaled back on Tuesday.